The Mysterious 'Medication' of Meditation

May 30, 2000 -- The waves of pain are intense for Regina, the result of an
auto accident that left her with neck and jaw injuries. Surgery brought no
relief, and pain medications left her drowsy, with virtually no energy. She's
had to quit her job as an on-the-rise Atlanta chef. "I didn't like the way
they made me feel ... not like myself," the 35-year-old tells WebMD of the
pain medication.

Seeking an alternative, she gave meditation a try. Now when the intense pain
hits -- which happens at least five times a day -- she calms her thoughts,
focuses on her breathing, and meditates it away.

Meditation -- an ancient spiritual tradition -- is for millions of people
around the world a 15- or 20-minute daily ritual. While there are several forms
of meditation, generally it involves focusing on the breathing, ignoring
everyday thoughts, and repeating a word or phrase called a mantra. Relaxation,
which is at the heart of meditation, has long been known to quiet a turbulent
mind, reduce stress, and, as in Regina's case, provide pain relief.

During the past three decades, a handful of scientists have delved deeper
into the mysteries of meditation, trying to understand how the mind affects the
body. Studies show that daily meditation can indeed be medication -- creating
long-lasting physiological effects that reduce high blood pressure and even
help unclog arteries to reverse heart disease.

Harvard researcher Herbert Benson, MD, has studied and written about the
physiologic effects of meditation over the past 30 years. Also president of the
Mind/Body Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Benson
co-authored a recently published -- albeit small -- study mapping, for the
first time, exactly what happens in the brain during meditation.

Five long-time meditation practitioners were involved in the study. Each had
practiced Kundalini, an Eastern form of meditation, for at least four years.
While meditating, each was given a brain scan called an MRI.

"There was a striking quietude across the entire brain which was
documented through MRI," Benson tells WebMD. "The areas of the brain
that became active from that quietude were those that control metabolism, heart
rate, etc.," says Benson, who is also associate professor of medicine at
Harvard Medical School. The results were published recently in the journal
Stroke.